As Ben Franklin once said, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’
Each year the combination of driving and alcohol consumption kills people, hurts families, ruins careers and costs thousands of dollars. A 1996 study found that every weekday night from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., one in 13 drivers is drunk (BAC of .08 or more). Between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. on weekend mornings, one in seven drivers is drunk. “Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes,” said Maria Cino, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2006. “Our message is simple: if you drive drunk, you will be arrested.”
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In 1999 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that about three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.
Nearly half of all 15-20 year olds killed in car crashes during prom season in 2004 involved alcohol. In 2004, during weekends around prom (4/2 to 5/23), 46 percent of traffic crash fatalities among 15-20 year olds were alcohol-related. Of these fatalities, 72 percent involved a 15-20 year old driver with alcohol in his/her system.
The Arlingtoncardinal DUI section includes local and global examples of DUI news and destruction that is caused by alcohol and driving while intoxicated.